Best Medical TV Shows | My Favorites & Your Suggestions

I loved medical shows long before I find myself in medical school, and my fascination with medical dramas did not falter.

I watch medical TV shows for a few reasons. They are of course enjoyable — there’s a bit of drama, a bit of romance, usually some attempts at humor. Oftentimes the characters are likable and easy to get along with and so it’s overall a fun thing to watch. They’re incredibly motivational to me — I watch the doctors in action and it actually really inspires me to work harder at my pursuit of this medical degree. And finally, they’re mildly educational — as you may realize, medical TV shows are often quite dramatic and not very realistic. And yet, I find that they’re educational in two ways:

• RARE CASES: medical shows seem to find the strangest and most unusual cases in medicine and bring them to light in entertaining ways. For instance, one night we watched an episode in which the mother suffered from “Broken Heart Syndrome,” and a few weeks later it came up in cardiology.
• ETHICS and MORALS: medical TV series always seem to find those ethically gray areas that wrench at your heart strings. Episodes will often focus on difficult ethical cases (abortion, child abuse, treating a prisoner, etc.) and I’ve learned a lot of really valuable lessons from watching the characters struggle with their hard decisions.

They also raise interesting issues like the bureaucracy, the paperwork, insurance issues, end-of-life problems, family interrelationships and so much more.

Disclaimer: I am in NO way saying that these are always medically accurate. In fact, many of them are notorious for their inaccuracies. I understand that these shows all severely dramatize medicine, and I’m okay with that because the trade-off (the things I listed above) is worth it.

YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS of the Best Medical Shows

These are the ones that you guys suggested on Instagram. I tried to put it in order of most mentioned to least mentioned – approximately. Just scroll down to the bottom for the ones that I consider to be the best medical shows, and for my list of favorite medical reads, click here.

[The Ones I’ve Seen]

These ones I’ve ALSO seen; I don’t consider them my favorites, but I’ve seen a few episodes of them.

Grey’s Anatomy

• By far the most frequently mentioned one – adored by millions! I myself have seen all of season one and that’s about it. Personally, I find it entertaining but the drama-to-actual-medicine ratio isn’t that high, so when I want to watch something more medical, I choose one of the other shows at the bottom.
  
  A lot of people also commented that it was a lot of drama and not always realistic, but here are some of the good things they said about it:
  • ‘shows multiple surgical specialties’ / ‘really cool surgeries’
  • ‘it’s the reason I finally had guts to go to medical school’
  • ‘love the characters’
  • ‘feels like home’ / ‘watched with my mom’

New Amsterdam

• New Amsterdam: the premise from Wikipedia reads, “New Amsterdam follows Dr. Max Goodwin as he becomes the medical director of one of the United States’ oldest public hospitals, aiming to reform the neglected facility by tearing up its bureaucracy in order to provide exceptional care to patients.”
  
  Many people recommended this this show, and the few episodes I’ve seen had many of the interesting/rare cases that I mentioned. I haven’t seen all of season 1 though, but most likely will, when I’m done with Chicago Med.

The Resident

• The Resident: this show follows a cocky but talented resident, as the name suggests. Also watched a few episodes of it and liked it – the side plot involving a potential pharmaceutical company scandal was also really interesting. As an added bonus, for fans of Gilmore Girls, you’ll be pleased to know that Logan plays the main character!

Others:

• The Night Shift: this show follows the story of a former Army medic working at the hospital. I liked the first two episodes, and will continue to watch when I’m done with the others.
• The Good Doctor: made by the creators of House M.D., which I didn’t know until someone pointed it out! The premise, according to IMDB: “Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and Savant syndrome, is recruited into the surgical unit of a prestigious hospital.”
  
  This was HUGELY popular when it came out, and we watched quite a few episodes of it. I personally wasn’t as enamored with it as many others, but I do recognize that it’s a really unique take on the medical field and it also has many interesting cases (one of which still sticks with me!).
  
  

[The Ones I Haven’t Seen]

I’ve linked the Wiki pages of each so you can find more info there! Just be sure not to spoil it for yourself.

• ER (a classic, it’s from 2004!): many people think it’s more accurate; I have yet to watch it but I really should!
• 9-1-1: this is brand new, I haven’t even heard of it! I think I’ll give it a go, because the Wikipedia description (“The series follows the lives of Los Angeles first responders: police officers, paramedics, firefighters and dispatchers.”) seems right up my alley.
• General Hospital (another classic!)
• Saving Hope: interesting premise…”A supernatural medical drama that centers around the lives of the doctors and nurses of Hope Zion Hospital.”
• 24 Hours in A&E: this is a documentary based on the Accident & Emergency department in the UK. Also adding this to my list!
• NY Med: another documentary, this time about Weill Cornell, NYU and the University Hospital in Newark!
• [Doctors: a Korean drama]
• Casualty: WOW, the “longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world, and the most enduring medical drama shown on prime time television in the world.” – Wiki. It started in 1986 and continues to present day, and the show is set in a UK emergency room.
• Holby City: actually a spin-off of Casualty (above)!

…and finally, someone mentioned Hart of Dixie, about a young surgeon who leaves NYC to head up a small practice in a small town in Southern America. It’s not entirely medical (mainly isn’t, I’d say) but it’s an enjoyable show. Much more romance than anything else, to be sure, so just added it because someone suggested it!

MY FAVORITES: The BEST Medical TV Shows

I loved these shows and while I recognize that they are far from reality, I genuinely enjoyed watching them and letting the cogs turn, trying to figure out the diagnoses.

• Dr. House: quite a few of you mentioned House, and I am also a big fan. I recognize that he is oftentimes a jerk to his patients and acts in ways that are definitely not acceptable. I don’t idolize his behavior, but I find the cases really interesting. The boyfriend and I have a great time trying to diagnose his patients and although many of them are the rarest presentations of the RAREST diseases, it’s still fun to hear the medical jargon we’ve been studying used.
• Code Black: Honestly, one of my absolute favorites. Season 1 was incredible; the show is based on the true story of an emergency room in California (which was also covered in a documentary, one which we watched) and I love the cases, the characters and the show. The later seasons became less and less realistic, but I’d say Season 1 is a top 3 for me.
• Scrubs (9 seasons): dubbed the ‘most accurate medical TV show,’ Scrubs is goofy and yet insightful. It’s a comedy and yet it often hits close to home with its more emotional cases and storylines. I would definitely recommend – they’re 20 minutes and very easy to enjoy. (P.S. most people hate season 9, the “Med School” season, but I thought it was a lot of fun when I was starting medical school.)
• Chicago Med: my current favorite – I watched up to season 5 so far – it takes in an emergency room in Chicago. I love that each episode has MULTIPLE cases (unlike in House), and it’s a great mix of every day patients with interesting back stories, exciting traumas and unique psych cases. And I’m not joking when I say that I got multiple questions right because of cases that Chicago Med covered… hehe. I also adore the characters, so I would definitely recommend this one.

Honorable Mentions

• Emily Owens, M.D.: this is what a doctor show would look like if it took place in a teenager-setting, like in high school. Silly and not that medical, but heartwarming. I watched it during my first year of med school and enjoyed it.
• The Knick: it takes place in New York City in 1900, and it’s based on a mix of real doctors – it gives insight into medical innovations at the time, major diseases that rampaged across the Big Apple and racial inequality that doctors back then had to deal with. Although there are historical inaccuracies (I’m sure), it was really interesting to watch and I learned a lot.

• Pure Genius: in the opposite direction, this show is very futuristic, and of all the shows in the list, I guess it’s the one that requires the most ‘suspension of reality’ in order to watch it. But it’s an interesting concept and although we only watched a few episodes, it raised interesting ethical problems.

What are the best medical TV shows in your opinion?